Service Brokerage

Current Projects

Youth Services Medicaid Project (YSMP): In collaboration with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the state's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Administration (JJDPA) State Advisory Group, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, the YSMP funds to seventeen community-based youth services providers across Illinois to provide access to mental health services to youth who are at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system. An additional component to this program offers each organization the ability to claim Medicaid for the provision of these services. YNC provided technical assistance to each organization in order to become Medicaid certified. Currently, YNC is working with IDHS to develop a Medicaid claiming system.

Pathways: An Independent Living Operation (ILO), funded by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). YNC, as the contractor, administers and coordinates the program, also serving as a liaison to DCFS. In this complex, collaborative effort, clinical oversight is provided through a subcontract with a mental health agency, and direct community support services to clients are subcontracted among four (4) community-based youth services agencies throughout Chicago and Cook County.

Trauma Informed Youth Services Initiative: Through a grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), under the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative Community Treatment and Services Centers Grant Program, YNC and its partner the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition (ICTC) incorporate trauma-focused and trauma-informed practices and policies into community-based youth-serving agencies in Illinois to improve outcomes for young people who are experiencing traumatic stress.

Previous Projects

Juvenile Justice / Mental Health Initiative (JJMHI): Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), YNC coordinated twenty-two community-based youth serving agencies operating in thirty-eight sites throughout Illinois in a statewide, systemic effort to provide access to mental health services to youth who are at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system.
News Article (PDF) | Executive Summary (PDF) | Full Report (PDF)

Pathways/TLP3: This addition to the continuum of Pathways services provided transitional housing for adolescents in the state's child welfare system. It was a collaborative effort among YNC and five (5) community-based youth services agencies, currently based in Chicago and Cook County. Though YNC is no longer involved in this program, it continues to run through the community-based agencies.

Region V Training and Technical Assistance Program (RVTTAP): Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) program, YNC provided specialized training and technical assistance (T & TA) to RHY grantees in Illinois, and subcontracts with intermediaries in five other DHHS Region V states (IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI) while maintaining cooperative agreements with the other nine federally funded regional T & TA programs.

Mentoring Capacity Enhancement (MCE): YNC provided organizational capacity building assessments and activities to federally-funded Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) grantees throughout the country. Activities focused on leadership development, organizational development, program development, revenue development strategies, and community engagement.

Making Mentoring Meaningful (MMM): YNC is implementing a three-year grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under their Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) initiative. In partnership Chicago Youth Centers (CYC), MMM will provide volunteer adults in a positive and constructive mentoring relationship to children whose parents are incarcerated.

State and Local Youth Development Collaboration Demonstration Project (PYD): Through a subcontract with the Illinois Department of Human Services, from a grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, YNC is coordinating a five-year youth and community development effort in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on Chicago's south side. This is one of only nine (9) programs of this type, nationally. The effort involves young people at the directorship level of the project, working with adult partners from community organizations, the faith community, schools, and businesses.